A collection of beautiful pieces to inspire you based around animals, insects and beautiful natural materials like agate.

NASA has this month released millions of images of our beautiful planet and it reminded me that the most beauty you can find in ornamental or function pieces of decor or furniture are made by Mother Earth herself. Things like raw, waney edge wood furniture, fossilised woods, agate, plants and taxidermy. These items can be used not only to give atmosphere to a rustic log cabin or hunting room, but also in sleek modern design as a ‘wow-factor’ centrepiece. Here are a few pieces of design inspiration for you to add something that’s a real unique talking piece to your home.

These butterflies are mounted in a double paned glass frame. It’s a very modern and minimalist take on the traditional butterfly collection. These can either be stood on a shelf or windowsill as an ornament (the two sizes together can look very nice with this placement) or can be hung on the wall as a picture.

These bookends are made from fossilised wood and weigh a ton – but they’re the most beautiful book ends I’ve ever seen. I bought these from Seattle on a business trip all the way back to the UK. You’ll have a hard time finding bookends as large as these but may have some luck getting smaller fossilised wood bookends and more likely some agate bookends from crystal shops on the high-street.

These agate coasters were from Etsy. They’re standard slices of agate trimmed in gold leaf with stoppers on one end. They look fantastic on dark wood tables and aren’t too expensive.

This antler bottle stop may be small but is certainly unique enough to be noticed. Fits in well with any deer/woodland theme and looks very nice on a bar or drinks cabinet.

Uncased taxidermy can be a subtle accent to any sideboard or side table. While you’ll have to limit it to low traffic areas to avoid knocks or damage by brushing past, it can look stunning. See my guide to buying taxidermy for a crash course on what you should be looking for and some trusted taxidermy suppliers in the UK and Europe.

I’d love to hear what anyone else can suggest for this list. Please add your own beautiful natural history items in the comments so I can be envious of you 🙂